The Songs of Solomon, or Songs of Songs, is a very misunderstood book of the Bible. It is so unique in style that it stands alone. The author of this creative book tells us about two characters and their love story. But what does this have to do with God? Why is this book in our Bible? And what does it mean for us today? It is impossible to understand without a few keys.

For a broader view of this book of the Bible, we encourage you to watch this video:

Bible Journaling Tip:

In ancient times, people used to do cave drawings to depict stories that mattered to them. How can you get the Word of God in front of your eyes in your everyday life? You could write down a verse you are memorizing and put it on your mirror, or you could put up artworks about the Bible on the walls of you home: your own cave drawings to show what matters most.

LOOK UP (information): encounter God through the Scripture 

Author:

It is widely believed that this book was written by Solomon - yes, the same Solomon who wrote Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. Solomon prayed and asked God to give him wisdom. God filled him with more wisdom than anyone else of his time. The kind of wisdom that Solomon had, transcended just understanding the Scriptures. He also received great wisdom for understanding plants and animals, and creativity for creating art and music. Solomon became a symbol of wisdom in the ancient world: even if he was not the true author of a text, people would reference him when they use his wisdom tradition. 

Audience:

The key idea of this book is not love or lust as many modern readers will imagine. The key idea is a loving communion set up as an example of what God intended for marriage and also of the kind of communion God intends to have with His people. Have you ever heard of people referring to believers or the church as the bride, with God being the groom? How does that relate to what we read about in this book? 

History:

The title ‘Song of Songs’ makes very little sense for modern readers - but it is an idiom and theme that we see throughout the Bible… think of ‘king of kings, lord of lords, and holy of holies’. This was a way to show that something is superior to all others. This was such a song, believed to be more beautiful than any other songs.

Genre:

The genre of this book is love poetry, in songwriting form. Mark any places where this becomes evident in the text by drawing a music note in the margin. Can you find any other musical elements present - like a ‘chorus’ being repeated or some forms of rhythm in the way it is written?

LOOK IN (revelation) : contemplate / reflect on our own lives

Key verse:

Song of Songs 5:2 NIV

I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night.”

Inspiration:

Imagine this scene: You are restless one night when you hear a knock at the door. You get up into the cold night to find your love at the door with wet hair from the damp night. They ask you to open the door so that they can come in. 

What do you think the meaning is of this picture? Read Revelation 3:20 where the author writes about how Jesus stands at the door and knocks. Song of Songs was written between 971-965 BC, whereas Revelation was written about 75 years after Jesus ascended to heaven. Do you think the author of Revelation intentionally used the same imagery?

LOOK OUT (transformation): respond with creative worship action  

Drawing prompt:

For this drawing prompt we will be creating an artwork around some text. Choose your favorite verse from the book of Songs of Solomon and write it on a page using a beautiful big font. Around the text, add all the visual elements that you read about in the chapter of the book that the verse comes from. 

For example:
If the verse I choose is from Chapter 5, some visual elements could include a garden, honey, wine, milk, doves, clothing, flowing streams, jewels, and many more. 

Bible Journey with JournalOwl:

Here are some questions / prompts provided by the JournalOwl community. 

• What did the Lover compare his Beloved to in this verse? (Song of Solomon 2:2)
• What sort of relationship did the Lover and the Beloved have in these books? (Song of Solomon 2:8), (Song of Solomon 3:5)

Follow this link to dive into this book with an online Bible Study group.

Writing prompt:

A lot of what was meant as compliments in this book, would be seen as insults today: (Read chapter 4 for a good laugh!) Your hair is like the goats descending the hill of Gilead! Your teeth are like freshly shaved sheep! 

For this writing prompt we will try to uncover what the author meant by what he wrote. 

Write down a line from Chapter 4. Underneath it, brainstorm what was meant by this compliment. What did the goats look like that he speaks about? As it turns out, those goats had shiny black hair and when they ran down the mountain, it made for quite the show. Maybe he was trying to say that she had beautiful long hair that bounces when she walks?

You can also do this exercise for any other parts of the book that you don’t understand.

Prayer:

God, I want to thank you for the book of Songs of Solomon. This is an intricate artwork. Would you fill me with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding so that my eyes may be opened and my heart softened in order to let this text speak to me? Let my response to this text be worship unto you!